COUPONS: Make that darn spot vanish

What do blood, grease and an unfortunate splatter of tinted moisturizer with sunblock have in common? I count them among the dirty laundry stains I am airing in public.

Last week I wrote about the top laundry detergents as tested by the experts of Consumer Reports and Good Housekeeping. The day my column ran in the Spectrum, the August 2014 Consumer Reports issue arrived in our mailbox with this year’s list of top laundry detergents. I decided to come clean, share the results of the newest list, and try an at-home test on our own tough stains.

Consumer Reports’ list of top five detergents includes three of the same brands as last year: Tide, Kirkland Signature and Wisk. Tide hung on to the top two spots, but its liquid Tide Ultra Stain Release was this year’s winner. Costco’s Kirkland detergent moved to No. 4 with Member’s Mark Ultimate Clean, available at Sam’s Club, moving in to third. Wisk fell to No. 5. Why? A side note from Consumer Reports explains they eliminated their warm water test and, instead, ran their tests as they believe consumers would use cool water, which may have caused the changes.

I had soaked and applied stain-removers to our worst stains, including Dawn dish soap on the grease. It was time to fight the grime.

I had Tide in my cupboard, it was not, however, the top Tide Ultra Stain Release rated number one by Consumer Reports. Fortunately, the recommended Tide was on sale at several stores. As promised, it removed the blood from our daughter’s shirt, and the wash cloth and towel used to clean her up (she had a nose-bleed, nothing to worry about). It also did a fair job on my husband’s greasy golf shirt. The spot on my shirt faded slightly, but mostly remained unchanged. Before drying, I decided to rewash it in Kirkland’s brand.

Readers of the Spectrum have shared with me their love of all things Kirkland. On good faith in them and trust in the experts at Consumer Reports, I invested $18.99 on a huge, 15.75 pound box of Costco’s Kirkland Signature Ultra Clean laundry powder.

I tested Kirkland’s cleaning power on ground-in dirt, thanks to the fun we had at our family reunion at Fish Lake. In the same load was our son’s shorts with the remnants of crusty mac ‘n cheese, and, of course, my shirt with the set-in spot. The conclusion? It cleaned up. The dirt, grime and leftovers were gone. The spot is not. It did, however, fade even more thanks to Kirkland’s cleaning ability.

The writing on Kirkland’s box touts 145 loads. That comes in at 13 cents per load. Consumer Reports listed Kirkland’s price per load at nine cents making it a “CR Best Buy.” I called our store’s friendly Assistant General Manager to find out the reason for the price discrepancy. He conducted a quick nationwide price search for me. He found the same price everywhere, though the price at Costco in Alaska, he said, is higher. A call to Consumer Reports answered by Billy confirmed the price reported was the price Consumer Reports paid for the product. He couldn’t determine when or where it was purchased. He did say the test was run “sometime earlier” this year. Perhaps there has been a price increase since their purchase, but either way, it is still a better bargain than the top Tide.

Consumer Reports’ price on Tide Ultra Stain Release was 25 cents per load. With Walmart’s sale price, Tide is about 21 cents per load. I had a coupon for $1.50 off making it 17 cents per load. Kirkland is the clear winner on cost. As to which is the better stain fighter? I have 191 combined loads to go before I’ll really know.

As a side note, I did not get the stain out of my shirt. However, I removed the rest of the greasy spot from my husband’s shirt. A friend had posted a super, set-in stain-fighter calling for two parts hydrogen peroxide, one part Dawn dish soap and one part baking soda. After mixing together, rub into the stain, and leave on for one hour before laundering. The same components also removed a handprint from our refrigerator door. It’s been an impossible spot to remove from our stainless steel fridge using all manner of products including commercial sprays, good old-fashioned scrubbing, and vinegar solutions. This worked.

One other thing

Attention crafters, scrapbookers and painters: there was an entire page of coupons from Michaels in the Sunday Spectrum.

If you have a bargain to brag about or a stain-fighting solution to share, please send Suzie an email at savingcents@outlook.com.